When introducing a cast member in a narrative, regardless of the on-screen presentation, always use the following format: John Smith - Director = (導演 約翰史密斯)

When introducing an actor in a narrative, regardless of the on-screen presentation, always use the following format: Vivien Leigh - Scarlett O’Hara = (費雯莉飾演郝思嘉 )

Do not use Chinese middle period separator (·) between first name and last name.

3. Continuity

Do not use ellipses or dashes when an ongoing sentence is split between two or more continuous subtitles.

Subtitle 1 我需要知道

Subtitle 2 發生了什麼事

Use an ellipses to indicate a pause or an abrupt interruption. In the case of a pause, if the sentence continues in the next subtitle, do not use an ellipsis at the beginning of the second subtitle.

Subtitle 1 我需要知道發生⋯

Subtitle 2 不要問了

Use ellipses without a space to indicate that a subtitle is starting mid-sentence:

⋯很有意思

Do NOT use the following:

Four-dot ellipsis:

她過來這裡....

Three-dot Chinese ellipsis with and English period:

她過來這裡⋯.

4. Documentary/Unscripted

Only translate a speaker’s title once, the first time the speaker appears.

When ongoing dialogue is interrupted by a speaker’s title, use ellipses at the end of the sentence in the subtitle that precedes it and at the beginning of the sentence in the subtitle that follows it.

Use Chinese parentheses for on-screen text.

Subtitle 1 我最愛海灘了，因為⋯

Subtitle 2 （導演）

Subtitle 3 ⋯在海裡游泳最好了

Dialogue in TV/Movie clips should only be subtitled if plot-pertinent and if the rights have been granted.

Forced narrative titles for on-screen text should only be included if plot-pertinent.

When on-screen text and dialogue overlap, precedence should be given to the most plot-pertinent message. Avoid over truncating or severely reducing reading speed in order to include both dialogue and on-screen text.

The duration of the FN subtitle should as much as possible mimic the duration of the on-screen text, except for cases where reading speed and/or surrounding dialogue takes precedence.

Forced narratives that are redundant (e.g. identical to onscreen text or covered in the dialogue) must be deleted.

Forced narratives should be enclosed in Chinese parentheses, except for foreign dialogue.

If the narrative is split between two or more subtitles, use parentheses at the beginning and end of each subtitle.

Never combine a forced narrative with dialogue in the same subtitle.

When a forced narrative interrupts dialogue, use an ellipsis at the end of the sentence in the subtitle that precedes it and at the beginning of the sentence in the subtitle that follows it.

Use Chinese parentheses for on-screen text.

Subtitle 1 我最愛海灘了，因為⋯

Subtitle 2（導演）

Subtitle 3 ⋯在海裡游泳最好了

8. Foreign Dialogue

Foreign dialogue should only be translated if the viewer was meant to understand it (i.e., if it was subtitled in the original version).

Foreign words or phrases should be translated when possible (i.e. hello, goodbye, thank you, merci) or transliterated when no accurate translation exists.

9. Italics

Do not use italics.

10. Line Treatment

Maximum two lines.

11. Numbers

Chinese numbers from 1 to 10 should be written out if space permits: 一，二，三

Use half width numbers (1，2，3) instead of full width numbers (１，２，３).

Do not use a comma to separate the thousandth digit where there are only four digits.

Do not use financially used characters (壹, 貳, 參, etc) to represent rounded large numbers, use characters for common writing instead (e.g., 五千, 四十億).

Only use full width Chinese punctuation, except for the hyphens in dual speakers subtitles or the periods in abbreviations (e.g., M.B.A.)

Enumeration commas can be used for lists (e.g. "A、B、C").

Question marks are required to indicate questions.

Only question marks or exclamation marks are allowed at the end of a line/subtitle.

Do not use any type of periods.

A colon may be used to introduce an explanation or an example (e.g., 日期：1976年8月27日).

Use a full-width question mark or exclamation mark when necessary.

For ellipsis, please use unicode U+2026 - it will display as a midline ellipsis in our platform. The unicode U+22EF is not supported.

Do not use:

A question mark with an exclamation mark (!?)

Double question marks (??)

Double exclamation marks (!!)

13. Quotes

Use full width quotation marks.

Quotes: Double quotation marks (“”) without spaces.

我問：“你有什麼？”

Single quotation marks (‘’) for quotes within quotes.

他站起來問：“老師，‘比較’的‘較’怎麼寫？”

When a quote carries over several subtitles, only use open and end quote at the beginning and end of the quote

Subtitle 1 我媽曾說：“人的一輩子就像一盒巧克力

Subtitle 2 你永遠不知道

Subtitle 3 你會挑到什麼口味”

When only a portion of a sentence is in quotes, the punctuation comes after the quotation mark.

“沙呦娜啦”，改天見！

When a whole sentence is in quotes, the punctuation mark comes before the quotation mark.

他站起來問：“老師，‘比較’的‘較’怎麼寫？”

14. Reading Speed

Adult programs: 9 characters per second

Children’s programs: 7 characters per second

15. Repetitions

Use continuation dots to express a repeated sentence, especially if it is too long.

Do not translate words or phrases repeated more than once by the same speaker.

If the repeated word or phrase is said twice in a row, time subtitle to the audio, but translate only once to ensure adequate reading speed.

16. Songs

Only subtitle plot-pertinent songs if the rights have been granted.

Opening and ending theme songs should only be subtitled if clearly plot-pertinent (e.g. for children’s content when the lyrics tell a story) or if instructed by Netflix. Normally, adult programs should not have the opening songs subtitled, except for SDH.

Do not use italics or quotes for song lyrics.

Use ellipses when a song continues in the background but is no longer subtitled to give precedence to dialogue.

17. Titles

Main titles: do not subtitle the on-screen main title card.

Episode titles: do not subtitle episode titles if they do not appear on screen/are not voiced-over. If on-screen (either as part of the principal photography or burned into video) or voiced-over, please reference the KNP tool for approved translations.

When translating the on-screen episode title, use the following format:

劇名：破曉時分

Titles of published works, existing movies and TV shows: use official or well-known translations. If none are available, please transliterate.

The following titles should be in Chinese brackets: albums, films, songs, TV programs, newspapers, magazines, books, works of art, trilogies.

你看過《復仇者聯盟》這部電影嗎？

Do not add main title brackets or Chinese parentheses to approved Netflix credits translations and leave a space after NETFLIX.

NETFLIX 原創影集

18. Special Instructions

All plot-pertinent dialogue should be subtitled, and takes precedence over background dialogue.

Dialogue must never be censored. Expletives should be rendered as faithfully as possible.

Please specify if the person spoken to is a female or male or animal or supreme being. For example: 你、妳、他、她、牠、祂、它

Please refrain from using regional slangs, idioms or dialect (e.g. Hokkien, Fujian) that would not be widely understood by all territories with a Traditional Chinese preference.

19. Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) Guidelines

Include as much of the original content as possible.

Do not simplify or water down the original dialogue.

Truncating the original dialogue should be limited to instances where reading speed and synchronicity to the audio are an issue.

Keep to 2 lines for dialogue, 3rd line may be used for descriptors.

3 lines max for onscreen text, if necessary.

Character limit can be increased to 18 characters per line, as needed

Reading speed can be increased to:

Adult programs: 11 characters per second

Children’s programs: 9 characters per second

For TV/Movie clips, all audible lines should be transcribed, if possible. If the audio interferes with dialogue, please give precedence to most plot-pertinent content.

All same-language audible songs that do not interfere with dialogue should be titled, if the rights have been granted.

Use song title identifiers when applicable - song titles should be in quotes:["Forever Your Girl" playing]

Song lyrics should be enclosed with a music note (♪) at the beginning and the end of each subtitle.

Use brackets [ ] to enclose speaker IDs or sound effects.

Only use speaker IDs or sound effects when they cannot be visually identified.

When a speaker ID is required for a character who has yet to be identified by name, use [man] or [woman], or [male voice] or [female voice], so as not to provide information that is not yet present in the narrative.

Use a generic ID to indicate and describe ambient music (e.g., rock music playing over a stereo).

Sound effects should be plot-pertinent.

Sound effects that interrupt dialogue should be treated as follows:

Subtitle 1: However, lately, I've been... [coughs, sniffs]

Subtitle 2: ...seeing a lot more of this.

In instances of foreign dialogue being spoken:

If foreign dialogue is translated, use [in language], for example [in Spanish]

If foreign dialogue is not meant to be understood, use [speaking language], for example [speaking Spanish]

Always research the language being spoken – [speaking foreign language] should never be used

20. References

For all language-related issues not covered in this document, please refer to: